Chapter X

For the deeper knowledge is wakened
Far down ’neath the conscious brain,
And he knows his bride of the ages
Has come back to earth again;
And the gate of death has no terror,
Since it cannot separate
The souls that watch for each other
With a love inviolate.

_Laurens Maynard._

OF A TOYOKUNI COLOR PRINT

I

Was I a Samurai renowned,
Two-sworded, fierce, immense of bow?
A histrion angular and profound?
A priest? a porter?--Child, although
I have forgotten clean, I know
That in the shade of Fujisan,
What time the cherry orchards blow,
I loved you once in old Japan.

II

As here you loiter, flowing-gowned
And hugely sashed, with pins a-row
Your quaint head as with flamelets crowned.
Demure, inviting--even so,
When merry maids in Miyako
To feel the sweet o’ the year began,
And green gardens to overflow,
I loved you once in old Japan.